Berthold outlasts DL-B in OT thriller

February 17, 2013

The Berthold Bombers were determined not to let Tanner Holte extend the game again.

Des Lacs-Burlington's star forward had already sent the District 12 championship game to overtime with a deep 3-pointer with nine seconds left in regulation. When the Lakers had the ball again in the final seconds of overtime, Holte posted up on the 3-point line looking to tie the game with another long attempt.

DL-B eventually got the ball to Holte, but Berthold swarmed him with three defenders, stripped him to gain possession and hit 1-of-2 free throws to clinch the title, 58-54, on Saturday at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.

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Daniel Allar/MDNBerthold senior post Logan Gunderson scores over a pair of Des Lacs-Burlington defenders during the Bombers' overtime win in the championship game of the District 12 tournament Saturday at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.

"They got us on it once and we knew who it was going to," said Berthold senior Logan Gunderson, who finished with a team-high 14 points. "We just weren't gonna let him get it off that time."

The drama at the end of the contest was made possible by a frantic comeback by top-seeded DL-B.

Berthold, the No. 2 seed, used hot outside shooting and strong early play from Mitchel White to jet out to a 26-8 lead.

"We just weren't in sync," Lakers coach Doug Wagner said. "They were the aggressor and we kind of stood on our heels for a little while."

DL-B never led in the game, but chipped away at the margin and drew within 42-39 with 3 minutes, 18 seconds left after a Holte putback. The game remained close from there, but the Bombers made just enough plays to hang on.

"That's one good basketball team over there," Berthold coach Brock Teets said. "I take my hat off to DL-B. They fight and fight. We could play this thing 10 times and it'd be four points or less (of a margin) every time we play. That's how close these teams are."

Close enough that a fortunate bounce may have been the final separating factor. Bombers junior Adam Knudsvig, who came up with the decisive strip on Holte late in overtime, banked in a 3 midway through the OT to give Berthold a 55-50 lead.

"You have to be playing well and you need some luck," Teets said. "Finally we got a little luck. That was big."

Both teams advance to the Region 6 tournament, with Berthold taking the top seed out of the district and DL-B taking the No. 2 slot.

Austin Lee and White each added 13 to join Gunderson in double figures for Berthold.

Our Redeemer's 44, Surrey 42

It was a chore Jeremy Feller didn't mind doing.

A couple hours after his Our Redeemer's Christian School boys basketball team clinched a trip to the Region 6 tournament, the Knights coach was tracking down a mop to clean up sparkling grape juice in the locker room - a product of a wild post-game celebration.

Feller said it was only the third time in school history the Knights advanced to the region tournament and the first time in six years.

"We bought it last year and it didn't work out so we put it in the locker room and they had to look at it all year long," Feller said. "We brought it tonight and luckily we were able to use it this year."

That post-game celebration almost didn't happen.

Sophomore Davis Koppinger's banked 3-pointer from the right wing with 37 seconds left gave ORCS a 44-42 lead and ended up being the final points of the ballgame.

The third-seeded Knights earned the No. 3 seed in the Region 6 tournament and will play the No. 2 seed out of District 11.

Surrey center Holden Hartley followed Koppinger's make with a missed jump hook and Koppinger rebounded and was fouled. After Koppinger missed both of the ensuing free-throw attempts, Surrey missed a desperate 3-point heave at the buzzer.

Koppinger scored a team-high 13 points off the bench for ORCS, including 10 in the first half.

Bishop Ryan's Mitch Medalen hit a 3 on the opening possession of the fourth quarter to give the Lions a six-point cushion and Ryan led by at least four the rest of the way.

Brody Bosch, who led the fourth-seeded Lions with 23 points, hit 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

"A big concern for us is that we play real well in stretches and then other stretches we have a couple mind-lapses," Ryan coach Tyler Ystaas said. "It was the difference in the DL-B game (Friday). So our goal today was to play consistent ball and I felt like we played four quarters of focused basketball today."